The Wraith Had Come
by M. Carwright
Summary: Oneshot, outsider's POV. John meets someone who might know a thing or two about slaying his personal demons. All he has to do is listen.


Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, don't make any profit.

A/N: So I'm working on chapter four of Hook, Line, and Sinker as we speak but I just thought I'd post this on the side.

One-shot, outsider's POV. John meets someone who might know a thing or two about slaying his personal demons. All he has to do is listen.

* * *

The wraith had come. 

Thirty years shy of a century of glancing at the skies in fear, to know that the time was finally upon them, came as a relief. New shelter needed to be found, escape plans needed to be discussed and food and crops needed to be harvested and stored. She'd never felt more alive in her seventy long years, as if a pressure in her shoulders had been worked away in the frenzy of saving lives.

Their tribe was strong; they would survive this culling as they had all the hundreds of years before. And so they pulled their roots that had settled into the soil, packing their belongings and left the small clearing to be reacquainted with the spirits of the forest. It was during this time of great upheaval that the other worldly strangers came.

They walked through the trees dressed like darkness, their soft hands clasping around black weapons of compact danger, their eyes sweeping across her blue-veined hands as she stripped the canvas from skeletal tent poles.

Among her people she had the great gift of memory and as the elder of their tribe she knew the faces of every people to have ever made a deal good or bad, but she had never seen the likes of these strangers.

She watched with interest as the tall dark man in the lead gave way to the woman on his left. The small child with cinnamon hair that framed her face stepped forwards, hands out in a greeting of peace. "We have come to trade." her lovely voice said.

The canvas was set aside for one of the younger men to finish and she approached the new ones, she studied their dress and their mannerism; experienced eyes reading the languages the body spoke. Not all of this small band where of the same tribe, or perhaps, even the same world. Only the woman of the group was content in her skin with a tranquility that the others did not possess. The giant man was like a tree in a thunderstorm, suppressed energy waiting to be released, while the smallest man was impatient and held himself with arrogance. But the leader was layers and secrets. He was trying hard to be someone who was a shadow of what she could only sense was within and it made her leery towards the strangers. She did not like secrets.

The woman spoke again, louder this time but ever polite, "May we speak with the leader of your people?"

She raised a wrinkled hand and motioned to one of the men working steadily behind her and he ran off to do as she requested. She walked forwards until she stood beneath the dark leader. She was not afraid of these strangers, she had stared down the chieftain of their sister tribe when they had fallen into consuming their fellow man and she had stared down a wraith as she'd watched the life of her son taken. "What do you wish to trade." she asked of the man before her.

"That depends on what you're willing to part with, but mostly we're looking for food." The calm response gave her nothing and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Perhaps, it would be best to discuss this with everyone present." said the woman with a diplomatic smile.

She returned the smile, feeling foolish for not extending the courtesy that was given among potential trading partners. "You must excuse my manners, you have arrived at a bad time and with so much to yet be done and so much already done that we have no place to accommodate a proper trade meeting. The best I can do is offer some steeped tea and a place around a fire."

"A cup of tea sounds wonderful." the tall man gestured for her to lead the way and she felt the truth in the words.

She nodded to herself and led the travelers through the chaos of departure towards the stone circled fire.

"Where is everyone going?" the impatient one finally spoke the question that she had seen in his face from the beginning.

She glanced back at him, "The wraith have come. My people must move to evade them."

The leader's face darkened at her answer and she turned to see a look of guilt chase itself through his eyes.

They arrived at the fire to be greeted by her nephew and the other men resting over a thick stew after their labors.

She allowed herself to step into the background as her brother's son handled the introductions amongst them, his big smile shinning as the potential for trade ripened.

The dark leader, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, spoke their greeting but once Farren opened negotiations he once again let the woman, Teyla Emmagan, handle the formalities.

She could remember another evening and another fire when she had sat with a young man, when they had shared tea and talked of life and trade. Even back then she had known to read people though she had not had as much practice at it, but even then she had seen the vibrant spirit within that man; the Athosians' bright hope. To know that this was his daughter standing before her now, quelled the uneasy suspicion she held for this new people.

The pot of water boiled and she dutifully served small tan cups of tea to the group seated around the warm flames.

The discussion gradually turned from medical assistance and supplies to tava beans and cortan root, then drifting towards sacks versus crates and various measures of weight as the sun dipped below the tree line.

The men of this odd team tried very hard to mask their boredom but she saw more than they knew and she watched as the leader would glance in her direction with curious eyes, eyes that would pretend they hadn't seen all they saw.

She watched with interest as her nephew's son slipped into the ring of adults and begged his father for his ritual bedtime story. She smiled knowingly as the energetic seven year old tugged on his father's sleeve insistently.

She rose to her feet, "Come Telon, your father is occupied with business. I can offer a story and perhaps Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, leader of the travelers, may grace us with one as well if he is willing?" She looked pointedly at the man before her.

He looked up startled and glanced around sheepishly.

She offered him an indulgent smile and extended her hand, "Come. Let us put the child to bed. Your team will manage with the remainder of the negotiations."

Her nephew laughed at the caught in the corner look on the man's face, "You'd best do as she says, the woman has great skill for finding ways to get what she wants." And it was a truth that she had proven many a time.

The eyes of his teammates danced in silent laughter as he pulled himself to his feet with a self-conscious wince. He trailed behind her as she led the pair away from the warmth of the fire and into the night, Telon bouncing excitedly between them.

Even with her slow weary limbs, it did not take long to reach the small tent where her nephew and his son slept. Two days from now this tent would be the last to be taken down and would signal the start to their great journey.

Telon raced ahead to hold open the flap for his great aunt and their guest and she motioned the tall man to precede her. She smiled as she watched him disappear into their cozy home. This was as much a test of the man's character as it was a chance to catch him alone.

The inside of the tent was warm with the residual heat of the sun as it was trapped within the canvas and the furs that lined the floor.

Telon quickly settled into the nest of his bedding, eager for the tale he was promised. She crossed the short space and lit the hanging lantern to fill the atmosphere with a soft glow before sinking down to sit cross legged beside the fidgeting blond haired boy.

The man stood awkwardly amidst the modest comforts of their happy lives and she patted the floor next to her with one strong, blue-veined hand, "Sit." It was a command and he was conscious enough to know and obey as he sank down beside her; she nodded her approval.

"Well Telon, what would you wish to hear tonight?" She watched as the boy sent shy glances in their visitor's direction and she waited patiently; almost as eager to see the outcome of her little test as he was to hear of great daring adventures.

The mask that she had seen all evening on the face of this dark-haired stranger slipped away in the presence of the awed child before him, and she sat back to let it all unfold as the man that she had sensed beneath, surfaced like the fish in the river on warm sunny days.

She watched as her grand nephew's eyes filled with visions of Heroes and great battles in far off places as Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard became the shining sun and the mysterious moon in the little boys mind. And she watched the man spinning his tales of trials with his faraway gaze, seeing, feeling and reliving the experiences that shaped the real man behind the hero. She listened and observed until she had seen through all his layers and all his masks, until he became merely a man, a man with the weight of many on his soul, a man with a great strength to stand tall and continue.

She smiled at the wide eyed gaze of the small boy as the man's storytelling came to an end, "It is well past your bedtime. Please thank him for this special privilege; it is not often you will come across such good stories as those."

He said his thankyous and settled into bed, eyes already filled with dreams and sleep. She tucked the child in and placed a soft kiss on his brow before turning back to the man beside her. She gingerly rose to her feet, her old joints creaking out of the positions they'd shifted into. The man rose with her and they left the tent silently together. Back into the cool night, she paused; staring out across the quiet camp that in two days would be gone. She felt the tall man beside her, blended as he was in the darkness.

She no longer felt uneasy against the man's secrets, she knew why he hid himself but she also knew a thing or two that he didn't; knowledge that came with watching the seasons pass around you for nearly eight decades.

"You are strong." she began softly, speaking to the night and knowing he'd hear, "But there comes a time when the guilt will be too heavy and strength will not be enough. It is hard to ask forgiveness of anyone but it is hardest to find forgiveness in yourself, so hear me." She paused, "My mother was a great woman, a strong woman. Before I was born into this world, my mother gave birth to my sister.

One fresh spring day my mother, with my baby sister in her arms, was collecting water by the stream when a large grey timber wolf attacked from the forest edge. Before my mother could react, the wolf's giant teeth had torn through the soft pink flesh of my baby sister and dragged her wailing form into the trees.

My mother raced back to camp to get her hunting spear and forged after the wolf, vowing for vengeance, filled with a deep rage and sadness, knowing that her first born child would be dead where she found it. She hunted the wolf for three cycles of the sun and she finally found its trail. She followed after the wolf's path until she spotted the creature who'd stolen her precious child. She pulled back on the spear, aiming for the beast's heart but right before she threw the sharp spear the wolf was surrounded by four tiny pups.

My mother paused in her blind rage, suddenly seeing the image before her. She realized that the death of her child had meant the survival of the wolf pups. Her baby lived on in the continuation of new life, the continuation of nature.

My mother's true strength was in the act of walking away; letting life continue." She glanced at the dark-haired stranger. "You forget that the wraith are part of this galaxy. Our lives go to feed their lives, both fight for survival, the great cycle. Accepting that takes true strength but finding such acceptance will lighten the weight that bears down upon your shoulders. It is worth the pain of each remembered loss."

She smiled to herself and walked off into the surrounding darkness, leaving him with his thoughts. She had learnt what she had wished to know and she had said what she had wished to say, she wouldn't return to the fire; she had no need to say goodbye.

The wraith had come and there was much done, but there was still so much to do.

_Fini_

Thank you for reading.


End file.
